“Going once, going twice” — the phrase rings out many times every Sunday from a rather laidback premises on Kolkata’s Russel Street. This is not a recent thing, but an enterprise that has stood the test of time as it strides into its 80-plus years of existence. This is The Russell Exchange — reportedly Asia’s oldest auction house and possibly the only surviving one in the city of Kolkata. The current auction house goes back all the way to the 1940s when the great grandfather of the present-day owners purchased the auction house that was already active within the premises.
Where time stands still
The name of the Englishman who sold the business is lost in time — probably a Mr Russell as the present owners opine — but business continues in much the same way as it did in those days. In fact, it’s almost as if time itself has stopped here in this ‘tired’ structure wherein old period furniture and a million antique artefacts rub shoulders with modern trivia in an attempt to catch the discerning eye. Images of life in colonial Calcutta stare back at us within the hallowed but ageing space of The Russell Exchange, encapsulating Kolkata and Bengal’s past with the ever-changing dynamic present.
A live auction is held at The Russell Exchange every Sunday
The existence of The Russell Exchange today can be called remarkable as virtually all others of the fraternity have downed their shutters. Kolkata’s many big names including the likes of Mackenzie Lyall & Co — the city’s earliest known auction house, Stainer & Co., Dalhousie Exchange, Chowringhee Sales Bureau Pvt. Ltd, D Albert & Co and Victor Brothers in Park Street which was the last to close, have all moved to the realm of memories.
There is a certain thrill in being able to see antique and period furniture made in the ever popular and resilient oak, mahogany, walnut, or cherry wood. Chairs that range from ornate wooden to upholstered armchairs, tables of various sizes and uses, cabinets dressers and chests of drawers, writing desks, beds of every shape and hue as well as ceramic pottery along with earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, and majolica items — all lined up and asking to be taken home. For the discerning, The Russell Exchange is still the place to visit to find those cherished Gilt Mirrors, Venetian Mirrors, Louis Philippe Mirrors and art deco fixtures, along with Belgian lampshades, exotic chandeliers, marble figurines and much more.
Going back in time
A glimpse of the interiors of The Russel Exchange — crammed but alluring
Speaking to My Kolkata, Anwar Salim, ex UK banker and partner of the firm that runs Russell Exchange, reflected on the origin of the auction house. “This business was purchased from some British individual, most likely named Mr Russell, by my grandfather and grandfather of one of the earlier partners,” he said. Salim’s father Abdul Majid, and his partner Amrit Lalji inherited this business from their parents. The two of them continued the business and about 20 years back Amrit Lalji retired. Salim purchased Lalji’s share and today the business is owned by their family — Salim, his brother Arshad Ali, and his sister Sarfaraz Begum Shamsi.
“Mr Russell, if I am right about his name, was already running an auction house here in the mid-1940s. Incidentally my sister was the only lady auctioneer in the country until recently. There used to be a lady with Chowringhee Sales about five years ago, but curiously not many women are seen taking to this trade and that is true even in the UK where the major auction houses are located. Admirably, my sister had managed to continue doing this and over the years had created her own style of doing the auction, which of course all us auctioneers create for ourselves,” explained Salim. Advancing age and health issues compelled her to retire from the trade in recent years.
While the level of sophistication elsewhere in the world may be different, the actual process of auctioneering is much the same as what you witness at Russell Exchange every Sunday.
Vignettes from a different time
The auction house stores a treasure trove of vintage goods from furniture and fixtures to crockery and collectibles
Earlier, most of Russell Exchange’s clientele were Britishers who lived in India, royal families, and other aristocrats, said Salim. Then the British left and members of the established strata of society and the film world became the mainstays for Russell.
“India, in those days, had exchange control and you couldn’t import stuff. Auction houses offered the way out, as then most of the items for sale were sourced from the consulates, or foreigners who were being transferred to other countries or simply returning to their homes,” he said about the process of acquiring and selling. Most of these items were from outside India and in those days, unlike today when you can get what you want from anywhere in the globe much easily, this served to be the greatest point of interest, with prices not being much of an issue.
Things work a bit differently now. “In most cases, the seller brings over the items, sometimes they telephone or WhatsApp us and we send over our transportation for collecting the same and for further delivery, which of course is borne by them. When it comes to pricing, we ask for pictures of the items and give the sellers an idea of the minimum price that they can expect, and from there onwards the auction decides. Our experience allows us to state the price of items but we always ensure that the parties involved get the best deal,” said Salim. The commission in the trade is 25 per cent, so “naturally we try to achieve the highest possible price of an item on sale.”
The gramophones are among the most sold items at the acution house, which also has unique finds like vintage glass chandelier
The process of acquiring, buying and selling previously owned and loved items often leads to interesting interactions for the ]brothers, and Arshad Salim shared remembered one such time. An elderly patron brought a very large collection of books to them to auction. All the books, apart from one that they had separated, fetched him a sum of around Rs 165. The one kept aside for a separate sale got him about Rs 20,000. “Upon receiving the handsome fund, the gentleman fled from the auction house as he felt that he was being wrongly overpaid and never returned. It was however conveyed to him that the amount was his just due,” he recalled, adding that the incident remains a pointer to the honest tenets that the firm has always followed, which also helps its perseverance against all odds.
Seeking times past
The Russell Exchange’s clientele today is a good mix of seniors and a healthy number of individuals in their 30s. “Nostalgic items are usually preferred by the older generations, but today we even have the grandchildren of buyers coming to us. Many visitors are heard voicing how their old memories were coming back as they perused through the many wonderful items on display. Mercifully, Bengal still has a good deal of old furniture in genuine Burma Teak which collectors across the country and even the world cherish.”
Items are paintakingly catalogued before the auction list is released every Saturday
The most regular visitors are those from “the tinsel world”, said Salim. The list includes big names such as Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, politicians such as Maneka Gandhi amongst a host of others, while people from the Bengali film industry often drop in for some cherished addition to their sets or homes. Satyajit Ray was a diehard regular, as was Suchitra Sen who often came by with a young Moon Moon Sen. Among the contemporaries Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Anik Dutta are some of the prominent visitors while many lawyers and doctors continue to give Russell Exchange their patronage. The auction house has also been featured in various movies with Mithun Chakraborty’s Nobel Chor being the most recent one shot here.
‘Our identity is inherent to this venture and it is an institution now’
The space has been an auction house for a long time, with the earlier one dating back to the 1940s
Salim stated that today they are at a stage where the business has established itself and earned goodwill. “We are told that we are the largest auction house in Asia, not only in the country. We do not advertise — people bring or send us their items, be it second hand furniture, ceramics, electrical, or even clothes.” They have an every Sunday with 300-400 lots or items. There used to be a Thursday auction as well, but that has been discontinued. “The catalogue listing the items to be auctioned is printed and ready for perusal every Saturday and then Sunday is full house.”
So, why has The Russell Exchange continued to have an auction every Sunday even as most auction houses have or are closing. According to Salim, what sets them apart is “the fact that we are not good businessmen. This area would technically get us a much, much higher return if we simply let it out. But our identity is inherent to this business and it is an institution now. So, we run it and as I say, people bring their stuff to us and we get them buyers and today, stuff from here is going all over the world.” Such is the reputation of Russell Exchange that people from outside the country don’t correspond by email but actually travel to the shop to see it.
With the next generation taking an interest, they have also started a section for direct sales and are in the process of starting the online sales. When that happens, Salim is “very hopeful that the business will move into a far bigger league on the lines of Sotheby’s, Christie’s and others.”
The Russell Exchange
Where: 12 C, Russel St, Park Street area, Kolkata
Timings: Wednesday - Saturday 10am-7pm; Closed on Monday after 2pm and Tuesday all day, auction list releases Saturday, auctions held on Sunday 10am-4pm
